Malaria in Pregnancy and Adverse Birth Outcomes: New Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.

Malaria in Pregnancy and Adverse Birth Outcomes: New Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities. Trends Parasitol. 2019 Dec 18;: Authors: Ngai M, Weckman AM, Erice C, McDonald CR, Cahill LS, Sled JG, Kain KC Abstract Malaria infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes but underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we discuss the impact of malaria in pregnancy on three pathways that are important regulators of healthy pregnancy outcomes: L-arginine-nitric oxide biogenesis, complement activation, and the heme axis. These pathways are not mutually exclusive, and they collectively create a proinflammatory, antiangiogenic milieu at the maternal-fetal interface that interferes with placental function and development. We hypothesize that targeting these host-response pathways would mitigate the burden of adverse birth outcomes attributable to malaria in pregnancy. PMID: 31864896 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Trends in Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Tags: Trends Parasitol Source Type: research